Canaan Partners, the 20-year-old global venture capital (VC) fund with $3 billion under management, will channel a bigger share of money from its latest global fund towards investments in the country.
The investments would be mainly directed towards technology ventures, Canaan Partners India MD Alok Mittal said.
The VC firm recently raised a $650-million global fund and about a quarter of it will be dedicated for investments in India and Israel. It is estimated that around $150 million will be invested in India over the next three years. Around 5-10% of its previous $450 million was dedicated to India and Israel.
Canaan has invested in five companies in India—e4e, Bharatmatrimony, Cellcast, iYogi and TechTribe—since foraying into the country in 2000. Future investments will be centered around the technology sector with typical funding of $3-5 million in Series A. The focus areas would be consumer internet & digital media, mobile and enterprise services.
Globally, Canaan invests in the technology and healthcare segments, but in India it does not have plans for the latter. Mr Mittal was of the view that critical mass for making investments in companies that provide technology in the area of healthcare has not yet been reached in the country.
The India investments have been performing well and Canaan has exited an entity which it indirectly funded. Mr Mittal said it would remain invested in companies for the long term and consider additional rounds of funding. Canaan is present in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and may look at expansion into newer locations.
Source: Economic Times